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Skins Have Room for Improvement

The Skins are obviously off to a tremendous start, but there's always room for improvement. In the interest of fairness, here are a few areas they need to work on:

The Pass Rush

They rank 30th in the NFL in sacks per pass play. That's not where you want to be. It's long been a problem around here, and Greg Blache is blitzing a whole lot less than Gregg Williams did. Having Jason Taylor miss time hurts, because he should be the top sack guy, and Andre Carter got off to a slot start on the opposite end before having a breakthrough game in Philly.

You look at the other teams at the bottom of the league in sacks/per pass play, and it's the dregs of the league: Houston (28th) Detroit (29th), KC (31st), Cincy (32nd). Those teams have combined for one win. The Skins are asking a ton out of their corners and safeties in coverage, and a little more help in the sack department would make their job a lot easier.

Punting

Durant Brooks has been errati and two poor punts have contributed directly to touchdowns. He had another short, low punt Sunday to another dangerous return guy (first Reggie Bush, then DeSean Jackson), and it could have been very costly. The Redskins rank dead last in gross punting average, and next to last in net punting average. That kind of stuff looms large in the - dare I say it - postseason, and though the rookie has time to curb these things, he needs to improve in the second half of the season.

First Downs

The Skins are still finding themselves in second- and third-and-long more than Zorn would like. Washington is averaging 4.9 yards per first down play, 21st in the NFL. The lack of first-down success is a big part of the reason the Skins are not better overall on third down, though what they did on third down through the final three quarters in Philly was outstanding. Similarly, the Skins defense ranks 21st on first down - giving up an average of 5.23 yards per first-down play - and getting a little better there would lead to more long scenarios for opponents, which in turn should lead to more - voila! - sacks, so I guess we've come full circle.

I think sacks are an overrated stat. For example, we might not have gotten a sack on Tony H(r)omo but we hit him a bunch of times. We made him very erratic which, in turn, had the same effect of sacks. I think we have a very underrated pass rush. However, in that same sentiment, I do not think we pressured D-Nabb that much. He had all day to throw BUT our secondary played phenomenal. Hats off to Carlos Rogers & co.

Durant Brooks has been errati and two poor punts have contributed directly to touchdowns. He had another short, low punt Sunday to another dangerous return guy (first Reggie Bush, then DeSean Jackson), and it could have been very costly. The Redskins rank dead last in gross punting average, and next to last in net punting average. That kind of stuff looms large in the - dare I say it - postseason, and though the rookie has time to curb these things, he needs to improve in the second half of the season.

JLC, I agree with all of this. My view is that he can and will improve, and that bum rushing him out of town now would be a huge mistake. Too much upside...and he has been as you say, erratic, hot horrible. Brooks neeeds to become CONSISTENT, not better. When he is on, he he excellent.

We cut Brooks, and I'll wager dollars to donuts the packers scoop him in nanoseconds to replace Frosty the Clown.

Not to change the subject, but I think the season changed when Nate dug up the stat of D Brees through 23 games compared to J Campbell and if Campbell won that game, hey would have the same record through their 1st 23 games. Goog job finding that one……

it also needs to be said that Jason Taylor and Marcus Washington need to get healthy for the skins pass rush to be at it's best.

the skins have also played some great pass protection teams in NY/NO/AZ/DAL/PHI

all of them are good pass protectors,we get just enough pressure for our coverage to be effective. hopefully with Jason Taylor getting healthier along with Marcus Washington,we'll be able to put the opposing QB in the dirt a little more.

The d-line hasn't gotten many sacks with a 4 man rush (so why not just rush 3?). But the LBs and DBs are playing very well and the 4 man line has been money against the run in the last 4 games. Plus they've also been good against screens and draws. And we've played some good RBs (Bush, Edge, etc). Not sure how we rank in tipped passes, but I'm thinking pretty well. All in all, the line is doing things well except getting sacks. If the lack of a rush hasn't hurt us against Warner, mcnabb, romo and Brees, I'm not going to be too worried.

As for first downs. I suspect the first game of the season weighs heavily on that stat. But the Skins also run more than most teams meaning they are likely to get less yards per play. But they are also going to get 2nd and 7 or 3rd and 4 -- not a lot of 3rd and 10's.

As for the punter, that's a problem. As it was with the last guy. But defending against the punt return is a big problem. Two return TDs in 5 weeks is not good.

I'd add pass protection to the list as an area of concern, though its not a major problem.

Durant Brooks has been 'errati' . . . is this Latin?
Errata = one shank
Erratos = one shank and one short
Errati = shanks, shorts and poor hangtime

I agree that these are good problems to have.
The yardage one would be my biggest concern as it can lead to too many 3 and outs.
Sacks - well if we're getting pressure which we need more of I'm willing to see fewer sacks. Yesterday btw really highlighted McNabbs low throwing. How many batted downs were there?

TE - True Citi or Wells may sue me over the name change but they may also want to 'buy' me for $60 billion . . . here is where I would insert jokes about my valuable assets . . .

Well Zornacopia has started. Wife works res for a major hotel chain. She had several calls today from Skins fans looking to book hotel rooms for the game that should not be mentioned yet. One guys was positive his favorite team was going to be here. I guess the bandwagon is starting to roll.

BTW, all rooms within 50+ miles of Tampa are already sold out. Also, people already have dibs on my extra rooms so don't bother asking me either :)

TE - True Citi or Wells may sue me over the name change but they may also want to 'buy' me for $60 billion . . . here is where I would insert jokes about my valuable assets . . .

Posted by: sfskin | October 6, 2008 5:43 PM

Feel free to change your name to Wachovia whenever you want, but counsel has urged me to remind you that you will be responsible for the cost of the 60,000 unsold Redskins Insider jerseys printed with your name across the top.

Feel free to change your name to Wachovia whenever you want, but counsel has urged me to remind you that you will be responsible for the cost of the 60,000 unsold Redskins Insider jerseys printed with your name across the top.

msw, sfskin said she was changing her name to Wachovia ... something about getting paid ... then something about Chad [insert name] in Cincinnati ... then I forgot what we were talking about ... don't you get in trouble for a short sale like that? or is it only when its above a certain percentage of the company?

Think I may have messed up posting the first time, so here goes again:

1) over a season, the total number of sacks reflects the pass coverage more than the rush. The QB has to wait an extra second and gets nabbed.

2) about half the time, it's the def. tackles who collapse the interior blocking and push the QB into the ends, resulting in a sack.

3) the blockers get blamed for sacks, but most QBs have a bad habit (even at the NFL level) of responding to the rush by stepping up into the pocket. That puts them way too close to the defender & makes them easy to grab.

4) good pressure on the QB usually results in a higher number of interceptions during the season, not sacks.

5) the punting game is a serious problem. Brooks has a great leg and gets the ball off quickly, but those returns are going to cost the Skins a game, and possibly soon. Only defense is that the Skins had the same problem last year. How come other teams can find good punters to sign?

6) Maybe we'll see a variation on the spread soon. Ronnie Brown isn't the only RB who can operate it. What about Randle El? He's a natural runner. Be good to use for a first down or TD situation.

"Sacks" are huge,they give O coordinators something to think about when game planning, they lead to hurries by qb"s and can even make you keep extra protection(rb,te) which means less recievers on passing downs "Sacks" give db's a breather on passing downs and make a receiver cut off his designed route leading to more oppourtunities for interceptions as the season progresses Blache and his staff
will have to find creative ways to put pressure on oppossing signal callers and take the heat off the secondary.

Though Frost is coming off two poor games, coach Mike McCarthy gave no indication that he intended to make a change. McCarthy didn't make any excuses for Frost's performance in the 30-21 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday, but he said it was indicative of the way things went for the entire special teams unit.

"We need to punt the ball better, we need to punt-protect the ball better," McCarthy said Monday. "The punt protection was not what it was supposed to look like. We've been very strong on special teams maybe the first two contests, but the last two weeks, this is probably as bad a performance as we've had on special teams in some time here."

On five punts, Frost averaged 38 yards gross and 30.2 net.

The worst punt came in the fourth quarter with the Packers backed up in their territory with a 21-20 lead. The ball was low, traveled just 38 yards and was returned 19 yards to the Green Bay 36. The Buccaneers drove just 30 yards for the go-ahead field goal....

Zorn was asked several times if veteran Jon Jansen has played well enough to regain his starting job in Heyer's absence, and the coach wouldn't go there. He continues to praise Heyer's pass-protection ability and said he would take the decision down through the week as he assesses Heyer's health. The running game has been more powerful and diverse with Jansen playing, and the longtime starter has been solid in pass protection as well, but Zorn seems to prefer Heyer.

"He wasn't being punished, we just felt like Stephon Heyer was the guy that could give us more solid protection in the passing game," Zorn said. "And I still think that."
____________________

Minnesota has nothing tonight. I can't believe Brad Childress will be around much longer.

Amazing that all the rookie head coaches have their teams doing well: Zorn plus new guys in Miami, Baltimore, and Atlanta. This was supposed to be a weak class, but all of them are making solid strides.

Regarding being ranked so low in the sacks dep't, part of getting a lot of sacks is forcing opponents into passing mode. Close games with low scores give the opponent a chance to continue to try the run. Except for the Dallas game, where we played prevent D in their last drive, I don't think we have been forcing the other guys to pass. Though I didn't see NO or Philthy or Cards, not on the tube here. And, no, I don't buy NFL net, ok?
Neil in Durango

When considering these stats, I think it's important to also consider the competition the Skins have faced while putting up those stats. The Punting issue isn't all on Brooks, the coverage was terrible on the Jackson return.

But the others, sacks, playing against very good offenses will slow down the sack total, the question is: how do the offenses we have faced thus far rank in sacks allowed?

And the defenses we have faced, the same question should be asked in regards to the first down yardage.

I will be looking into some of these myself for an article I'm writing, I'll post them when I finish it.

First they said, JC was too slow and to dumb to run the offense.
NOT ME. I've felt JC would be a top 10 QB, but I did wonder if he was a good fit for pure WCO. Zorn adapted the offense to fit JC's skills better.

Then they said Colt Brennan was the QB for this team...
NOT ME

Zorn was in over his head after the Giants game and he'd be gone by midseason.
NOT ME. Said game 2 would tell us a lot more about this team than game 1.

Oh yeah...Santana Moss is not a true #1 receiver
HALF CREDIT, Moss is #1 when healthy, but health has been a big issue

Vinny Cerrato can't evaluate talent
NOT ME. I did say he didn't draft the right mix of people. Too many TE, not enough line, for example. I look at talent evaluating as an 'odds' thing and very few people are exceptional at it.

JC is ok but he hasn't brought us for a win from behind
NOT ME. Been optimistic about JC all along, taking my cue from SJ9 who said the comeback win is one of the last pieces QBs figure out.

Portis is selfish.
GOT ME. Thought Portis plays his heart out on Sundays, but needed to be a better teammate.

Carlos Rogers and Rocky McIntosh won' be back until November
GOT ME. From the description of the injuries, I guessed Rocky would come back at some point and that Rogers career was at risk. Clearly both are playing very well

They said this team would be 1-4 at this point.
NOT ME. Called 10-6, hoped for 3-2 at this point

Yeah, they beat Dallas, but "this is the letdown week".
NOT ME

We shoulda never traded Champ Bailey for Clinton Portis.
NOT ME. Champ had to go, bridges had been burnt. We did overpay a bit for CP with the added pick

They said, "nice goin' Vinny you screwed up another draft"
HALF CREDIT. I've held the Skins actually draft pretty well in terms of talent. But the other part is they gave away too many picks cheaply and have not drafted in positions of need.

This "O-Line" is too old.
NOT ME. The o-line IS aging. But I do think they have needed to draft people because there will be a lot of turnover there in the next few years and it takes 2 years for a lineman to develop. If the odds a drafted OL will work out to be an NFL starter is 50/50 (and I don't think its that high), there need to be a lot of picks to bring people along to fill for retirements, injuries and guys leaving.

We have no depth...
HALF CREDIT. I like our depth at most positions, but not WR, OL especially

"I've got Washington as the worst team in that division"
NOT ME. At 10-6, I figured we'd go to the playoffs

Oh yeah..they said...Get Bill Cowher in here.
NOT ME. figured the Chin was unlikely to work for the Spaghetti Gang.

My basic comment prior to the start of the season were the Skins had above average talent in every group except WRs, where they were average, if healthy. Moss and ARE were acceptable, but the #3 WR would be a problem. WRs have exceeded my expectations.

As for coaching, Zorn was an unknown, so I had no idea how he would work out. Complete mystery to me as a HC. I did think GG was the best hire and that Zorn was clearly not among mgmts top choices for HC. Felt if GG was in charge, we'd be expected to win 11 or more, given last year's close.

As for the Spaghetti Gang, I've been critical. Have not liked the approach to drafts (not enough picks along the lines and LB) and the cap management (until this year). Keeping all the rookies seems an unlikely coincidence, roughly 50% of draft picks do nothing in this league.

I was more optimistic than most, due to the return of so many starters from last year's team, which was really good. Still, this team is playing at a level beyond anything I felt were rational expectations.

So -- I have a slightly different take on the "room for improvement" question.

I think that most statistics can be misleading, particularly early in the season. But one interesting metric is the ranking of an offense or defense between total offense/defense and scoring offense/defense. That is, if you're 13th in total defense (as we are), then you should be somewhere around there in scoring defense (as we are, exactly at 13). This controls for some of the aberrations of a schedule (like where we've played all top-ten offenses). On offense, we are #6 in total offense, but #17 in scoring offense. That means we're scoring less than we should be given the overall effectiveness of the offense. "Settling for field goals" is a bit of a problem right now; I doubt that we can continue this for the whole season without suffering at some point along the line.

So -- I have a slightly different take on the "room for improvement" question.

I think that most statistics can be misleading, particularly early in the season. But one interesting metric is the ranking of an offense or defense between total offense/defense and scoring offense/defense. That is, if you're 13th in total defense (as we are), then you should be somewhere around there in scoring defense (as we are, exactly at 13). This controls for some of the aberrations of a schedule (like where we've played all top-ten offenses). On offense, we are #6 in total offense, but #17 in scoring offense. That means we're scoring less than we should be given the overall effectiveness of the offense. "Settling for field goals" is a bit of a problem right now; I doubt that we can continue this for the whole season without suffering at some point along the line.

So -- I have a slightly different take on the "room for improvement" question.

I think that most statistics can be misleading, particularly early in the season. But one interesting metric is the ranking of an offense or defense between total offense/defense and scoring offense/defense. That is, if you're 13th in total defense (as we are), then you should be somewhere around there in scoring defense (as we are, exactly at 13). This controls for some of the aberrations of a schedule (like where we've played all top-ten offenses). On offense, we are #6 in total offense, but #17 in scoring offense. That means we're scoring less than we should be given the overall effectiveness of the offense. "Settling for field goals" is a bit of a problem right now; I doubt that we can continue this for the whole season without suffering at some point along the line.

So -- I have a slightly different take on the "room for improvement" question.

I think that most statistics can be misleading, particularly early in the season. But one interesting metric is the ranking of an offense or defense between total offense/defense and scoring offense/defense. That is, if you're 13th in total defense (as we are), then you should be somewhere around there in scoring defense (as we are, exactly at 13). This controls for some of the aberrations of a schedule (like where we've played all top-ten offenses). On offense, we are #6 in total offense, but #17 in scoring offense. That means we're scoring less than we should be given the overall effectiveness of the offense. "Settling for field goals" is a bit of a problem right now; I doubt that we can continue this for the whole season without suffering at some point along the line.

So -- I have a slightly different take on the "room for improvement" question.

I think that most statistics can be misleading, particularly early in the season. But one interesting metric is the ranking of an offense or defense between total offense/defense and scoring offense/defense. That is, if you're 13th in total defense (as we are), then you should be somewhere around there in scoring defense (as we are, exactly at 13). This controls for some of the aberrations of a schedule (like where we've played all top-ten offenses). On offense, we are #6 in total offense, but #17 in scoring offense. That means we're scoring less than we should be given the overall effectiveness of the offense. "Settling for field goals" is a bit of a problem right now; I doubt that we can continue this for the whole season without suffering at some point along the line.

The sacks will come ... Just realize who we have played over the past 5 weeks and what weapons we had to stop. All 5 teams are in the top 10 in offense. If you commit to many players to get pressure on the QB it would have gotten ugly.Also in this stretch of weak teams we play... I can almost promise a huge spike in sacks and turnovers. Just as the Giants and Eagles have had due to lack competition.

The sacks will come ... Just realize who we have played over the past 5 weeks and what weapons we had to stop. All 5 teams are in the top 10 in offense. If you commit to many players to get pressure on the QB it would have gotten ugly.Also in this stretch of weak teams we play... I can almost promise a huge spike in sacks and turnovers. Just as the Giants and Eagles have had due to lack competition.